The uncle of Republican lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Kleefisch said he hopes her opponent wins the election.

Chris Pfauser, who is gay, was offended by comments Kleefisch made on WVCY in January, discussing the extension of domestic partner benefits to state employees.

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"I'm shocked," Pfauser said. "I would have never expected that rhetoric to come from especially my family."

In the radio interview, Kleefisch said, "This doesn't just have roots in the Bible. This has roots in fiscal common sense. We can't, at this point, afford to just be handing out money to anyone. This is a slippery slope in addition to that -- at what point are we going to okay marrying inanimate objects? Can I marry this table, or this -- you know, clock? Can we marry dogs? This is ridiculous."

Pfauser said he and his partner of 18 years, Rob Gow, have a warm, though distant, relationship with Kleefisch.

Pfauser said he decided to speak up now to keep a promise he made to himself when Mary Cheney -- the openly gay daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney -- didn't publicly speak out against her father's opposition to gay marriage.

"I said if I was ever in that position, I wouldn't be doing that. I wouldn't stand there and just take it. And so oddly enough, I'm here in a position where I've got a family member running for a very high office, and I'm in a similar position."

This week Kleefisch issued a statement saying she didn't mean to sound insensitive.

She declined repeated requests from 12 News to discuss her positions on same sex marriage and her opposition to extending domestic partner benefits to state employees.

But in the radio interview, she referenced the cost of expanding those benefits.

"It's really the principle of it, to me," Pfauser said.

"Using the cost as an excuse, especially when it's likely very small, hurts even more."